STEPHI’S IN SOUTHIE

If you want to chart a neighborhood’s evolution, look at the restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that open there. When did the new South Boston overtake the old? Maybe it was when an Asian bistro, Owl Station, began serving sushi in the space that was once Whitey Bulger hangout Triple O’s. Or when Starbucks came to town. Or, perhaps, when Stephi’s in Southie arrived.

It’s the latest from eponymous restaurateur Stephanie Sokolove, who also operates Stephanie’s on Newbury and Stephi’s on Tremont, prime people-watching spots in prime locales. Now she anoints the area by the Broadway T station. Sokolove must emit some kind of sonar, because as soon as the new place debuted this fall, it was full.